3D vacuum panel and a folding approach to create the 3D vacuum panel from a 2D vacuum panel of non-uniform thickness

ABSTRACT

A three-dimensional (3D) vacuum insulation panel (VIP) and a folding approach to create the 3D VIP from a two-dimensional (2D) VIP of non-uniform thickness for a refrigerator, a refrigerator freezer or a non-appliance, are disclosed. The folding approach includes placing a VIP main panel and a plurality of VIP wall panels on an outer film, where one or more panels are of a greater thickness than other VIP panels; placing an inner film on top of the VIP main and wall panels and sealing the films together. The inner film is longer than the outer film and this allows the films and the VIP wall panels to be folded into a finished panel, wherein the longer inner film allows for fording without causing tears or micro-cracks in the film that would adversely affect the insulation properties of the three-dimensional (3D) VIP.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser.No. 14/634,946 filed Mar. 2, 2015, entitled 3D VACUUM PANEL AND AFOLDING APPROACH TO CREATE THE 3D VACUUM PANEL FROM A 2D VACUUM PANEL OFNON-UNIFORM THICKNESS, the entire disclosure of which is herebyincorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

This application relates to a panel or cabinet for refrigeration ornon-appliance use, including, but not limited to, an insulated cooler.In particular, the present disclosure relates to a 3D vacuum panel andcreating a 3D vacuum panel from a 2D vacuum panel of non-uniformthickness.

BACKGROUND

Various types of insulated cabinet and door insulated structures havebeen developed for refrigerators, freezers, and other such appliances.Insulated appliance door and cabinet structures may include polyurethanefoam, polystyrene or other insulating material that is positionedbetween an outer door skin or wrapper and an inner door liner. However,known insulated appliance structures may suffer from various drawbacks.

In the related art, vacuum-in-place (VIP) insulation panels aremanufactured in a flat 2D shape and are then folded. However, there aredrawbacks to this approach. Manufacturing VIP panels in a flat 2D shapelimits their application to flat walls and makes it difficult to use asinsulation on a surface that is not flat. In some cases, it will beadvantageous to have a shape that has some walls that are thicker thanothers. One solution is to make a 3D core and seal the 3D core in a filmhaving a gas barrier. A drawback to this approach is that it may resultin high mechanical stresses in the film that may create tears or holesin the gas barrier which allow air or water vapor to enter the vacuumpanel, which can result in air infiltration that defeats the insulation.Thus, there exists a need to overcome these drawbacks in the related artand provide a foldable vacuum insulation panel having sections ofdifferent thicknesses.

SUMMARY

An aspect of the present disclosure provides a foldable vacuuminsulation panel which consists of sections of different thicknesses.This allows a three-dimensional shape to have walls of differentthicknesses after the walls are folded into final form. For example, aFrench door bottom mount (FDBM) freezer door could be constructed usingthis method, as could a refrigerator cabinet or a non-appliance. Thefront wall could be one thickness while the sides could be thicker tomatch the external metal panel thickness or to include the door dikesection. The top piece of the barrier film may be longer than the bottompiece of barrier film in order for it to match the profile of the panel.This would reduce the amount of stretching of the film that would berequired to confirm the difference in panel height. Another applicationof this solution is that the pre-shaped boards are not only differentthicknesses, but could also have some three-dimensional features. Thiswould allow, for example, a thicker section to be incorporated toinclude the door dike or other features that exist in today'spolyurethane (PU) foamed doors but would not be possible to incorporateby folding a two-dimensional shape. By having VIP insulation panels thatare of different thickness, the VIP insulation panels can replace the PUfoamed doors, which is an advantage since the VIP insulation performsbetter than the PU or polystyrene that would otherwise be used.

An aspect of the present disclosure is generally directed toward amethod of manufacturing a 3D VIP insulated door panel from a 2D flatpanel of non-uniform thickness, the method including the steps ofproviding an outer film; providing a flat vacuum-in-place (VIP) mainwall on the outer film; providing a VIP top wall on the outer filmadjacent to and at an edge of the main wall; providing a VIP bottom wallon the outer film adjacent to the main wall and opposite to the topwall; providing a VIP left wall on the outer film and adjacent to and atan edge of the main wall; providing a VIP right wall on the outer filmand adjacent to the main wall and opposite to the left wall, wherein oneor more of the VIP top wall, the VIP bottom wall, the VIP left wall andthe VIP right wall are thicker than the main wall; providing an innerfilm on top of the main wall and each of the VIP top wall, VIP bottomwall, VIP left wall and VIP right wall; wherein the inner film is longerthan the outer film, sealing the inner and outer films, and providingthe inner film in a length wherein folding the VIP top wall, VIP bottomwall, VIP left wall and VIP right wall onto the main wall produces a 3DVIP insulated door panel of non-uniform thickness.

Another aspect of the present disclosure provides a 3D VIP insulateddoor panel manufactured from a 2D flat panel of non-uniform thickness,3D VIP insulated door panel including an outer film; a flatvacuum-in-place (VIP) main wall on the outer film; a VIP top wall on theouter film adjacent to and at an edge of the main wall; a VIP bottomwall on the outer film adjacent to the main wall and opposite to the topwall; a VIP left wall on the outer film and adjacent to and at an edgeof the main wall; a VIP right wall on the outer film and adjacent to themain wall and opposite to the left wall, wherein one or more of the VIPtop wall, the VIP bottom wall, the VIP left wall and the VIP right wallhave a different thickness than the main wall; an inner film on top ofthe main wall and each of the VIP top wall, VIP bottom wall, VIP leftwall and VIP right wall; wherein the inner film is longer than the outerfilm, wherein the inner and outer films are sealed, and the inner filmis configured to be of a length wherein folding the VIP top wall, VIPbottom wall, VIP left wall and VIP right wall onto the main wallproduces a 3D VIP insulated door panel of non-uniform thickness.

Yet another aspect of the present disclosure provides a refrigeratorfreezer door assembly, the refrigerator freezer door assembly includinga door panel including a door flange on opposite sides of the panel; atop end cap mounted to the top of the door panel between the doorflanges; a bottom end cap opposite the top end cap; a folded 3D VIPinsulation panel inside the door panel having walls of non-uniformthickness; an inner door liner inside the folded VIP door panel; agasket surrounding a periphery of the inner door liner; and left andright brackets secured to the inside of the inner door liner.

These and other features, advantages, and objects of the presentinvention will be further understood and appreciated by those skilled inthe art by reference to the following specification, claims, andappended drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing summary, as well as the following detailed description ofthe invention, will be better understood when read in conjunction withthe appended drawings. For the purpose of illustrating the invention,there are shown in the drawings, certain embodiment(s) which arepresently preferred. It should be understood, however, that theinvention is not limited to the precise arrangements andinstrumentalities shown. Drawings are not necessary to scale. Certainfeatures of the invention may be exaggerated in scale or shown inschematic form in the interest of clarity and conciseness.

FIG. 1A is a perspective view of an unfolded 3D VIP insulation panelaccording to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 1B is a perspective view of the bottom of the unfolded 3D VIPinsulation panel of FIG. 1A;

FIG. 1C is a perspective view of the folded 3D VIP insulation panel ofFIG. 1A;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 1A, taken along the lines 2-2of FIG. 1A;

FIG. 3A is a perspective view of an unfolded 3D VIP insulation panel ofanother exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 3B is a perspective view of the bottom of the unfolded 3D VIPinsulation panel of FIG. 3A;

FIG. 3C is a perspective view of the folded 3D VIP insulation panel ofFIG. 3A;

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view taken along line A-A of FIG. 5 of afolded 3D VIP insulation panel with non-uniform thicknesses according toanother exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 5 is an unfolded view of a 2D VIP insulation panel havingnon-uniform thicknesses;

FIG. 6 is a cross sectional view of a refrigerator freezer door having afolded 3D VIP insulation panel according to another exemplary;

FIG. 7 is a cross sectional view of a refrigerator freezer door having a3D folded VIP insulation panel according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 8 is a cross sectional view of a refrigerator freezer door having a3D VIP insulation panel according to another exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 9 is a cross sectional view of a refrigerator freezer door having a3D VIP insulation panel according to another exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a refrigerator freezer door assemblyaccording to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 11 is a rear perspective view of the refrigerator freezer doorassembly of FIG. 10; and

FIG. 12 is an exploded view of the refrigerator freezer door of FIG. 11.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT DISCLOSURE

Before the subject invention is described further, it is to beunderstood that the invention is not limited to the particular presentdisclosure described below, as many variations of the present disclosuremay be made and still fall within the scope of the appended claims. Itis also to be understood that the terminology employed is for thepurpose of describing present disclosure, and is not intended to belimiting in any manner.

In this specification and the appended claims, the singular forms “a,”“an” and “the” include plural reference unless the context clearlydictates otherwise. The present disclosure are generally directed towarda 3D vacuum panel and a folding approach to create the 3D vacuum panelfrom a 2D vacuum panel having a non-uniform thickness.

For purposes of description herein, The terms “upper,” “lower,” “right,”“left,” “rear,” “front,” “vertical,” “horizontal,” “top,” “bottom,”“left,” “right” and derivatives thereof shall relate to the disclosureas oriented in FIGS. 1A-1C. However, it is to be understood that thedisclosure may assume various alternative orientations, except whereexpressly specified to the contrary. It is also to be understood thatthe specific devices and processes illustrated in the attached drawings,and described in the following specification are simply presentdisclosure of the inventive concepts defined in the appended claims.Hence, specific dimensions and other physical characteristics relatingto the present disclosure disclosed herein are not to be considered aslimiting, unless the claims expressly state otherwise.

Referring to FIGS. 1A-1C, reference numeral 100 refers to an unfoldedmain wall and top walls of a vacuum insulation panel (VIP) used in arefrigerator freezer door, but are not limited thereto. The unfolded VIPpanel 100 includes main wall 110, top wall 120, right wall 130, andbottom wall 140 which are located opposite to top wall 120, left wall140 and bottom film 200. In this exemplary embodiment, each of theunfolded walls are adjacent to one another and rest on outer film 200.In addition, the walls, other than the flat main wall 110 are configuredto be folded. One or more of the top, bottom, left side and right sideVIP walls may be of different thicknesses from each other. Each of themain body 110, and the top, bottom, left and right walls 120-150 restson a film 200.

FIG. 1B is a rear view of the 3D VIP of FIG. 1A, showing rear film 200and walls 120, 130, 140 and 150. The main wall 110 is covered by film200. The walls 110-150 are covered by outer film 200 in this figure.

FIG. 1C is a folded view of a finished 3D VIP. In this aspect of thepresent disclosure, an inner film 210 has been added on top of walls110-150 and is sealed to outer film 200 in a conventional manner aswould be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. The walls120-150 are then folded to form the finished 3D VIP I as shown in FIG.1C.

FIG. 2 is a view which illustrates the inner film 210 placed over thewalls 110-150 to be sealed to outer film 200 (only 110, 130 and 150 areshown). The walls 110-150 are then folded, as shown in FIG. 1C, to formthe finished 3D VIP for use in a refrigerator freezer assembly. Theinner film 210 may be longer than the outer film 200. This permits thewalls 120-150 to be folded onto the main wall 110 in such a manner thatthe longer inner film 210 allows the film to stretch to a point ofallowing the product to be finished without tearing or causingmicro-cracks, etc., to the film. If there were tears or micro cracks inthe film when the seals of the inner and outer films are folded, aircould get into the VIP and adversely affect their insulative ability. Bymaking the inner film longer than the outer film, this problem isavoided because the films are not overly stretched to a point of tearingor developing micro-cracks which can adversely affect the insulationproperties of the VIP. By making the inner film longer than the outerfilm, a small gap may be created between the walls of the VIP, whichreduces the chance of tears or micro-cracks, and is easier tomanufacture. By having the top piece of film longer than the bottompiece of film, the amount of stretching of the film when folding thewalls of the VIP is reduced, reducing the chance of tearing or thedevelopment of micro-cracks.

FIG. 3A is a perspective view of an alternate embodiment where the VIPmay include sides that are not of uniform cross section and have steppedportions on the walls of the VIP. The stepped portions can be used tomark features of the door so that the door can be thinner in places,resulting in consumers obtaining more space. As shown in FG. 3A, anunfolded VIP is illustrated. This VIP is similar to FIG. 1A with theexception that the top wall 125, bottom wall 145, left wall 155 andright wall 135 each include a stepped portion. Two stepped portions 138and 148 are shown. The stepped portions for 125 and 155 are not shownbut are the same as stepped portions 138 and 148. The purpose of thesestepped portions is to fill a dyke portion of a refrigerator or the dykeportion of a refrigerator freezer.

FIG. 3B is a rear perspective view of FIG. 3A. This figure shows film200 which is located on the underside of main wall 110 and the walls125, 135, 145 and 155. This figure shows the walls and main wallattached at their undersides to film. Although the film for thisexemplary embodiment is shown as being the same size as the film 200 ofFIGS. 1A-1C, the size of the film is not limited thereto and may besized to conform to the size of the main wall 110 and the walls 125,135, 145 and 155, which are to be folded.

FIG. 3C shows a folded VIP. In this embodiment, main wall 110, top wall125, bottom wall 145, left wall 155 and right wall 135 are allillustrated. In this exemplary embodiment, all of the stepped portionsof the walls 125, 135, 145 and 155 are shown to be of the same size andhave the same stepped portion. However, the invention is not limitedthereto and the walls and stepped portions can be of different sizes andshapes.

FIGS. 4 and 5 show an exemplary embodiment having walls of differentthicknesses. FIG. 4 is taken along lines 4-4 of FIG. 5. FIG. 4 shows acutaway of a folded VIP 400. Illustrated is a main wall 460. Top wall410 and right wall 420 are also shown. Bottom corner walls 430 and 440are of a greater thickness than top wall 410, bottom wall 450, and rightwall 420. Walls 430 and 440 are made thicker in the exemplary embodimentto provide an area of greater insulation to provide better insulation toa compressor, etc.

FIG. 5 is an unfolded blank of a VIP that is folded to make the VIP ofFIG. 4. In this exemplary embodiment, thicker walls 430 and 440 areshown to be adjacent to main wall 460. In this exemplary embodiment,films 200 and 210 are not illustrated but may be the same type of filmsfound in the embodiments of FIGS. 1A-1C, FIG. 2 and FIG. 3A-3C.

FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a refrigerator orrefrigerator freezer door. In this exemplary embodiment, 620 is an areawhere a door bracket is attached. Area 620 may be unfilled (air), butmay also be filled with an insulation material, including, but notlimited to EPS or PU. Reference number 630 is part of a door liner.Reference number 640 is a folded VIP that extends across the door panel600 and then turns upwardly. As shown, VIP 640 does not extend into thedoor dyke 650 and does not extend into area 670, which is usually filledwith polyurethane (PU) or polystyrene. Gasket assembly 660 is shown inthe area usually filled with PU or polystyrene. In this exemplaryembodiment, the door dyke 650 may be left empty (air filled) or may befilled with PU or polystyrene, which provide rigidity. A door dyke isthe part of the door that goes into the refrigerator and keeps air fromgetting to the gasket. It is important to keep the cold air away fromthe gaskets so as to minimize heat transfer through the gasket. FIG. 7is an illustration of a door panel of a refrigerator or a refrigeratorfreezer. This exemplary embodiment is similar to the exemplaryembodiment of FIG. 6. A difference is that in this exemplary embodiment,the VIP extends across the door liner and upwardly towards the doordyke, represented as 650 in FIG. 6. In this exemplary embodiment, theVIP additionally fills three areas. The first is that the VIP fills thearea where a bracket assembly attaches to the inner liner, i.e., thearea represented by 620 in FIG. 6. Secondly, the VIP fills the area ofthe door dyke that would, in the related art, be filled with PU,polystyrene or air. The door dyke is represented by 650 in FIG. 6. Thethird area is the area 710 where the area would, in the related art, befilled with PU or polystyrene or left empty, i.e., filled with air. Aproblem with leaving an area filled with air is that if pushed orsqueezed, there is no support. During a manufacturing process, the area710 may be formed similar to a wall 150 in FIG. 2 and folded into place.In this exemplary embodiment, a refrigerator or refrigerator freezerdoor is illustrated; however, the invention is not limited thereto andthe VIP could be formed into the shape of all or part of a refrigeratorappliance or a non-appliance, and used as an insulative component tobuild an entire refrigerator cabinet or a portion of a refrigeratorcabinet or a non-appliance including, but limited to an insulatedcooler.

Turning next to FIG. 8, portion 640 may be filled with a VIP. In thisexemplary embodiment, the area of the door dyke 650 is not filled andthe area 620 where the bracket assembly meets the inner liner is notfilled with a VIP. Rather, these sections not filled with VIP may befilled with PU, polystyrene, or air, but is not limited thereto, aswould be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. In themanufacture of the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 8, the VIP 640 may beformed similar to the main wall 110 and left wall 150 of FIG. 2, andfolded into place.

Turning next to FIG. 9, a flat VIP 910 is provided across the doorassembly. 910 is a main wall and 920 is a side wall. The area of thedoor dyke 650 (FIG. 6) and the gasket assembly 660 are filled by VIP 920and the area where the bracket meets the inner liner may be filled witha different VIP 930. However, area 930 may be filled with air, PU, EPS,etc., as would be understood by an artisan. This area is referred to by620 in FIG. 6. In manufacturing the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 9, bothVIP 910 and 920 may be formed of sections having an inner and/or outerenvelope, or film, which are folded 180° into place, instead of beingfolded 90° into place, as in FIG. 1.

Turning to FIG. 10, this exemplary embodiment illustrates a perspectiveview of an assembled refrigerator freezer door assembly 1000. At theoutside of the freezer door assembly is a door panel or outer liner1050. The side edges of the door panel 1050 are labeled as 1010. Alsoshown in FIG. 10 is a top end cap 1020. A lower end cap is not seen inthis figure. In addition, protruding from the back of the door panel1050 is a pair of mounting brackets. Specifically, left mounting bracketis represented by 1030 and right mounting bracket 1040. The mountingbrackets are mounted to the freezer by screws in a manner that would beunderstood by one of ordinary skill in the art, and will not bedescribed herein.

FIG. 11 is a rear view of the perspective view of the refrigeratorfreezer door illustrated in FIG. 10. This figure illustrates a rearsurface 1110 of an inner door liner 1270 (FIG. 12), as well as the leftand right mounting brackets 1030 and 1040, respectively.

FIG. 12 is an exploded view of the refrigerator freezer door assembly1000 of FIG. 11. This exemplary embodiment includes a door panel 1050(FIG. 10) having an inner surface 1230. The side edges of the door panel1230 are folded inwardly at 1010. Above the door panel is a seal 1220and a top end cap 1020. At the bottom of the door panel 1050 is abracket 1240 as well as a bottom end cap 1250. Inside the rear surface1230 of the door panel assembly is a folded VIP I 100. In thisillustration, the VIP may be the same or similar to the VIP insulationpanel of FIG. 1C. Inside of the VIP is an inner door liner 1270 having arear inner surface 1110. On the inside of the inner door liner 1270 is agasket assembly 660 which surrounds the perimeter of the inner doorliner 1270. Mounted to the rear surface 1110 of the inner door liner1270 is a left mounting bracket 1030 and a right mounting bracket 1040.

Although the above description has described and illustrated variouspresent disclosure, the present disclosure is merely exemplary by natureand is not to be construed as limiting of the inventive concept. Rather,the inventive concept of the disclosed present disclosure is defined bythe claimed subject matter.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A door assembly for an appliance, the doorassembly comprising: a door panel including a door flange on oppositesides of the door panel; a top end cap mounted to the top of the doorpanel between the door flange; a bottom end cap positioned opposite thetop end cap; a folded vacuum insulation panel disposed inside the doorpanel; an inner door liner attached to the door panel, wherein thefolded vacuum insulation panel is disposed between the door panel andthe inner door liner; a gasket coupled to a periphery of the inner doorliner, wherein the folded vacuum insulation panel includes walls ofdiffering thickness; and a door dyke positioned proximate the gasket,wherein the door dyke defines a thermal barrier between the inner doorliner and the gasket, wherein the vacuum insulation panel at leastpartially occupies the door dyke.
 2. The door assembly of claim 1,wherein left and right brackets are secured to an inside of the innerdoor liner and wherein the door assembly defines a drawer panel of theappliance.
 3. The door assembly of claim 2, wherein the vacuuminsulation panel at least partially fills an area proximate the innerdoor liner where the left and right brackets attach to the inner doorliner.
 4. The door assembly of claim 1, wherein top and bottom bracketsare secured to one of the door panel and the inner door liner, andwherein the door assembly defines a freezer door of the appliance. 5.The door assembly of claim 1, wherein the vacuum insulation panelincludes top, bottom, left and right walls that each define the walls ofdiffering thickness of the vacuum insulation panel.
 6. The door assemblyof claim 5, wherein each of the top, bottom, left and right wallsincludes a stepped portion, each stepped portion at least partiallyoccupying the door dyke.
 7. A door assembly for an appliance, the doorassembly comprising: an outer door panel; an inner door liner that iscoupled to the outer door panel to define an insulating cavitytherebetween; a folded vacuum insulation panel having top, bottom, leftand right walls that are folded onto a main wall to define walls ofdiffering thickness of the vacuum insulation panel; and a gasket coupledto a periphery of the inner door liner, wherein the folded vacuuminsulation panel includes walls of differing thickness, wherein theinner door liner defines an internal thermal dyke proximate the gasket,the vacuum insulation panel at least partially occupies the internalthermal dyke.
 8. The door assembly of claim 7, wherein each of the top,bottom, left and right walls includes a stepped portion, each steppedportion at least partially occupying the internal thermal dyke.
 9. Thedoor assembly of claim 7, wherein the vacuum insulation panel includes acontinuous film structure that includes an outer film and an inner film,the inner film being larger than the outer film, and wherein the innerfilm defines folding areas wherein the top, bottom, left and right wallsare folded to engage the main wall.